On This Day in History: Paul McCartney meets John Lennon

On this day in 1957, 15-year-old Paul McCartney attends a church picnic in the village of Woolton, near Liverpool, where he meets 16-year-old John Lennon. Lennon had formed a band called the Quarrymen, which was playing at the picnic. Between sets, McCartney played a few songs on guitar for the band, and a few days later Lennon invited him to join. At first, McCartney didn't take the group seriously-in fact, he missed his first performance with the band because he had a scouting trip.

Soon, however, the group had a loyal following. The group changed its name to Johnny and the Moondogs and recruited McCartney's friend George Harrison. After bassist Stu Sutcliffe joined, they changed the name again, to the Silver Beetles, eventually modified to the Beatles. Tommy Moore joined the band as drummer and was replaced by Pete Best in 1960.

After a tour to Germany in 1961, Sutcliffe left the band to become a painter (he died of a brain hemorrhage less than a year later), and the band returned to Liverpool. Label after label rejected them. In 1962, Best left the band, Ringo Starr joined up, and the Fab Four--McCartney, Lennon, Harrison, and Starr--recorded "Love Me Do," the group's first Top 20 hit in the United Kingdom.

Two years later, they were introduced to American listeners. When they landed at Kennedy Airport in 1964 to start their first U.S. tour, a frenzied mob of fans greeted them. Their debut album in the United States, Meet the Beatles, became the fastest-selling album in U.S. history up to that time. The Beatles went on to score more No. 1 hits on the Billboard charts than any other group in history, with 20 chart toppers. They received the Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1965 at Buckingham Palace.

The band broke up in 1970, and each member either pursued a solo career or formed a new group. Although there was frequent speculation about the possibility of a reunion, Lennon's tragic murder by a deranged fan in 1980 ended that possibility.

Eight years later, the Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a retrospective anthology was released in 1995. It included the previously unrecorded "Free as a Bird," written by Lennon and recorded by surviving band members in 1994 and 1995. It became one of the fastest-selling albums in history.